Northern Ireland

Abstract

attendance by all parties and made the adoption orders in private. Themothermade an application under the inherent jurisdiction to revoke the care and placement orders and the adoption orders. This was dismissed and the mother appealed. Leave to appeal on two grounds was granted – that the judge in the adoption proceedings was not entitled to excuse the parents’ attendance and that the judge in the application to revoke had misdirected himself on the interpretation of the Family Procedure Rules. Rule 14.16(1) provides that any person given notice of the adoption application (which will include a mother) may attend the final hearing. This is qualified by Rule 14.16(2) which states that a person whose application to oppose the adoption has been refused is not entitled to be heard.